General Discussion

Epstein's death was the first death ruled a suicide at the MCC in 14 years. Michael Baden and 60 Minutes questioned whether Epstein, who was almost 6 ft tall and weighed 185 pounds, could have been able to hang himself from the lower bunk.

Photos taken after the death also show bottles and medicine standing upright on the top bunk.

Baden also questioned why Epstein did not use other materials available in his cell as a ligature, such as wires and tubing from a sleep apnea machine, which were stronger and longer.

On August 14, unofficial sources reported that broken bones were found in Epstein's neck. Although this can occur in the suicide of the elderly, these broken bones are "more common in victims of homicide by strangulation", according to forensic experts and studies. In particular, Baden claimed that Epstein's hyoid bone was broken in a way indicative of strangulation from behind.

Epstein's lawyers released a joint statement after the medical examiner's report, expressing dissatisfaction with it, challenging its conclusions...They later said that the evidence concerning Epstein's death was "far more consistent" with murder than suicide.

According to Baden, the neck wound was in the center of Epstein's neck, not under his mandibles as in a typical hanging. Baden said this is more common when a victim is strangled by a wire or cord. Baden also said that the wound was much thinner than the strip of bedsheet, and although there was blood on Epstein's neck, it was absent on the bed-sheet ligature.

Contrary to MCC and BOP policies and procedures, Epstein was allowed to sleep on the floor, had extra blankets and clothes. Photos of Epstein's cell included in the report shows piles of what appears to be orange clothes strewn about the floor and bed.

Epstein was also allowed to use a jail phone the night before he died that was unmonitored, in violation of BOP policy, and was not re-assigned a new cellmate despite previously attempting suicide.

He was also removed from suicide watch after being evaluated by a doctoral-level psychologist who determined that a suicide watch was no longer warranted despite the actual suicide attempt just 2 weeks earlier.

On November 19, 2019, federal prosecutors in New York indicted MCC guards Michael Thomas and Tova Noel, charging them with multiple counts of falsifying records and conspiracy to falsify records. The charges were based on video footage obtained by prosecutors, showing that the guards did not check on Epstein for eight hours. They were assigned to guard Epstein overnight but failed to complete more than 75 mandatory checks on him. Instead, they made personal searches on their computers and slept. He was left in his cell overnight, and only discovered dead at 6:30 a.m. on Aug. 10.

Two other BOP employees whose titles were Evening Watch SHU Officer in Charge and Material Handler, were referred for criminal charges due to falsely certifying inmate counts and rounds on the day before and after Epstein's death.

The surveillance footage taken inside the MCC, which purportedly shows no one entering Epstein’s cell on the night of August 9, 2019 (but not Epstein’s death) is missing a full minute of footage. If you skip through the 11-hour video, you’ll see the counter on the screen jumps from 11:58:58 p.m. to 12:00:00 a.m.

In a December 2019 court proceeding against Epstein's cellmate Nick Tartaglione, federal prosecutors reported that the surveillance footage from outside Epstein's cell during the July 23 incident (his prior suicide attempt) had disappeared. Tartaglione's defense, who claimed that the footage showed Tartaglione saving Epstein's life, hoped that it would illustrate Tartaglione's character. His lawyer had requested that the footage be kept on July 25, two days after the incident. Judge Kenneth Karas requested that the government determine what had happened to the footage. Several days later, federal prosecutors reversed their statement, claiming they had found the missing footage. But in January 2020, they admitted the footage had been permanently deleted because of a "clerical error".

At an August 27 hearing, Epstein defense attorney Reid Weingarten expressed "significant doubts" that Epstein's death was due to suicide. According to Weingarten, when attorneys met with their client shortly before his death, "we did not see a despairing, despondent, suicidal person".

Epstein's brother, Mark, has rejected the possibility of Jeffrey's suicide, claiming, "I could see if he got a life sentence, I could then see him taking himself out, but he had a bail hearing coming up."

Former US Attorney and Senate Judiciary Committee counsel Brett Tolman said the death was "more than coincidental", considering Epstein's "many connections to powerful people".